Melanopsin function in humans. This project aims to understand melanopsin signalling in humans. A newly discovered retinal ganglion cell class expresses the melanopsin photopigment. Melanopsin signalling controls neural functions for light dependent image formation and non-image forming processes. Many of these are unknown in humans. This project will use a 5-primary photostimulator to define how melanopsin controls these processes in humans. The outcomes are expected to advance understanding of ....Melanopsin function in humans. This project aims to understand melanopsin signalling in humans. A newly discovered retinal ganglion cell class expresses the melanopsin photopigment. Melanopsin signalling controls neural functions for light dependent image formation and non-image forming processes. Many of these are unknown in humans. This project will use a 5-primary photostimulator to define how melanopsin controls these processes in humans. The outcomes are expected to advance understanding of human vision. This could provide avenues for using light to increase active participation in society and improve health and well-being, and strategies to assess human vision and the body’s internal clock.Read moreRead less
Vision and lighting in the age of melanopsin. This project aims to develop innovative new technologies, which will advance understanding of the effects of light on human behavior mediated via the recently discovered melanopsin photopigment in the eye. The project expects to create a cutting-edge visual display technology, which will deliver the foundation knowledge of melanopsin shapes visual perception. The project will redefine current knowledge of human vision and provide a practical lighting ....Vision and lighting in the age of melanopsin. This project aims to develop innovative new technologies, which will advance understanding of the effects of light on human behavior mediated via the recently discovered melanopsin photopigment in the eye. The project expects to create a cutting-edge visual display technology, which will deliver the foundation knowledge of melanopsin shapes visual perception. The project will redefine current knowledge of human vision and provide a practical lighting solution to suit the biological needs of humans, especially in relation to the human body’s internal (circadian) clock. Read moreRead less
Neural origins of conscious perception in no-report paradigms. This project aims to test two highly influential theories of consciousness. The project will be the first to test critical experimental conditions, where neural activities are recorded in humans and novel measures of causality are computed, which allows us to distinguish the two theories. The intended outcomes will provide significant benefits by bringing us closer to solve the mind-body problem. These outcomes can contribute to the ....Neural origins of conscious perception in no-report paradigms. This project aims to test two highly influential theories of consciousness. The project will be the first to test critical experimental conditions, where neural activities are recorded in humans and novel measures of causality are computed, which allows us to distinguish the two theories. The intended outcomes will provide significant benefits by bringing us closer to solve the mind-body problem. These outcomes can contribute to the development of engineering and clinical devices that utilise objective measures of consciousness.Read moreRead less
Using shape change for object perception: human and artificial vision. This project aims to examine the steps taken by the visual system to code the shape of objects, including those that change shape over time. The project seeks to employ experiments assessing human vision and machine learning techniques to examine these codes and, in particular, focus on the advantages of a system that exaggerates shape change over time. Expected outcomes include an improved shape code based on superior human ....Using shape change for object perception: human and artificial vision. This project aims to examine the steps taken by the visual system to code the shape of objects, including those that change shape over time. The project seeks to employ experiments assessing human vision and machine learning techniques to examine these codes and, in particular, focus on the advantages of a system that exaggerates shape change over time. Expected outcomes include an improved shape code based on superior human performance that can have many applications in automated visual systems. This project can directly benefit the animation industries where the creation of realistic movement of humans and animals remains a computationally intensive challenge.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100790
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$419,308.00
Summary
Understanding how the brain combines sensory information. The ease with which we perceive the external world belies the complexity involved in integrating different sensory inputs. How does the brain achieve this fundamental operation? The project will address this question using a multidisciplinary approach that combines computational modelling, brain imaging, and psychophysical techniques. The expected outcomes of the project are a better understanding of how people perceive the world through ....Understanding how the brain combines sensory information. The ease with which we perceive the external world belies the complexity involved in integrating different sensory inputs. How does the brain achieve this fundamental operation? The project will address this question using a multidisciplinary approach that combines computational modelling, brain imaging, and psychophysical techniques. The expected outcomes of the project are a better understanding of how people perceive the world through optimal integration of sensory cues. In addition to advancing basic scientific knowledge, the findings will illuminate perceptual anomalies in normally developing children and will provide a foundation for reducing a debilitating side effect of virtual reality systems known as ‘cybersickness’.Read moreRead less
The rules governing combined rod and cone photoreceptor signalling in visual pathways. The research program investigates vision at dim (mesopic) light levels where rod and cone photoreceptors simultaneously transmit visual information. The interaction between rod and cone signals is not trivial because their different amplitudes, timings and delays significantly change the perceptual qualities of our visual experience. The research addresses fundamental questions about how the retina and brain i ....The rules governing combined rod and cone photoreceptor signalling in visual pathways. The research program investigates vision at dim (mesopic) light levels where rod and cone photoreceptors simultaneously transmit visual information. The interaction between rod and cone signals is not trivial because their different amplitudes, timings and delays significantly change the perceptual qualities of our visual experience. The research addresses fundamental questions about how the retina and brain integrate disparate signals from the rods and cones to produce a homogenous visual percept. New psychophysical and electroretinographic paradigms will independently control the retinal photoreceptors to resolve the long standing problem of how noise modifies signalling and information flow between the retina and visual cortex.Read moreRead less
Adaptation and after effects in perception of tactile motion. This project investigates sensory properties of the skin covering the human hand, focusing on the ability to perceive how surfaces move across the palm when objects are handled or explored. This project aims to elucidate sensory information processing, leading to applications in diagnostics of neurological disorders and robotics.
Multimodal testing for a fast subcortical route for salient visual stimuli. This project aims to uncover links between underlying brain circuitry, uncertainty and consciousness, and perceptions of fear. The project will use a multi-modal combination of brain imaging and neural recording techniques to generate new knowledge about the brain’s processing of biologically relevant information. The expected outcomes will enhance our knowledge of how the brain rapidly and non-consciously prepares the ....Multimodal testing for a fast subcortical route for salient visual stimuli. This project aims to uncover links between underlying brain circuitry, uncertainty and consciousness, and perceptions of fear. The project will use a multi-modal combination of brain imaging and neural recording techniques to generate new knowledge about the brain’s processing of biologically relevant information. The expected outcomes will enhance our knowledge of how the brain rapidly and non-consciously prepares the body for potential escape behaviours and of the brain pathways engaged in fear perception. The outcomes have the potential to inform strategies for overcoming anxiety and its effects on daily life, social interactions and workplace productivity.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL160100108
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,409,738.00
Summary
How the brain creates a sense of auditory space. How the brain creates a sense of auditory space. Spatial hearing is necessary for locating the source of a sound, and critical for communication in noisy listening conditions. The object of this project is to determine how the mammalian brain, including in human listeners, represents sensitivity to interaural time differences, one of the two binaural cues, and how this representation is transformed from the brainstem to the cortex. Anticipated out ....How the brain creates a sense of auditory space. How the brain creates a sense of auditory space. Spatial hearing is necessary for locating the source of a sound, and critical for communication in noisy listening conditions. The object of this project is to determine how the mammalian brain, including in human listeners, represents sensitivity to interaural time differences, one of the two binaural cues, and how this representation is transformed from the brainstem to the cortex. Anticipated outcomes include a coherent model of binaural hearing that links cellular, systems and perceptual investigations, and an understanding of the human auditory brain that should facilitate novel technologies and interventions to improve hearing function.Read moreRead less
Wiring the retina for human vision - a single-cell behavioural approach. This project aims to combine optical and behavioural methods to explore how colour information is channelled from individual cone photoreceptors through the living human retina, to the brain. By non-invasively stimulating either a single cell or specific arrangements of cells, the project aims to contribute fundamental knowledge about how the retina is wired to inform our exquisite sense of colour and spatial vision. This u ....Wiring the retina for human vision - a single-cell behavioural approach. This project aims to combine optical and behavioural methods to explore how colour information is channelled from individual cone photoreceptors through the living human retina, to the brain. By non-invasively stimulating either a single cell or specific arrangements of cells, the project aims to contribute fundamental knowledge about how the retina is wired to inform our exquisite sense of colour and spatial vision. This understanding has consequences across a range of disciplines, including artificial vision systems such as driverless cars, retinal disease, and the processing of information through neuronal connections in general.Read moreRead less